Sweet Preferences, Bell vs. Non-Bell

[obispo45]

Just dawned on me a couple days back that the majority of my sweet pepper plants this year will produce bell shaped fruits. By and large I'm a fan of OP'ed cultivars particularly tomatoes and chile peppers. Last couple years for a variety of reasons, reasons which are unknown to this pepper person I have gone the way of hybrids for my sweet stuff. Selected some great cultivars this year and all are, at this early stage, looking good and strong....particularly Mavras, Tawny Port, Islander, Hershey and Tequila. Sweet Spot, one of my few non-bell sweets is equally impressive. Carmen, a slow starter for me last year is doing the same again....but it was a very strong finisher last year so I'll relax for a while longer.

What I'm trying to say or ask remains a mystery...LOL!! Don't really know if I'm seeking out the taste. Don't really know if I'm after the higher yielding ones. What I do know(perhaps one of only a handful of things I'm certain about...LOL) is that I'm having a blast and few garden plants are as pretty as a pepper plant loaded with blossoms and ripening fruits. Just don't know how I wound up with a bunch of bells when I've always been partial to the non-bell shaped ones. Grown plenty of OP'ed sweets in both forms and been happy and well fed the vast majority of the time. What are other folks growing this season? What do you prefer? Any recommendations? Tomatoes are far and away my fave crop but peppers are my fave to grow.

[spyfferoni]

I had great success with a yellow bell hybrid last year called Early Sunsation. It was probably my best tasting and most productive bell last year. I've also had good luck with Big Bertha. I still have may varieties to try yet, and hopefully I'll have some more winners by the end of the summer. I always grow Sweet Banana because it is so early and prolific, but I am anxious to try other frying and Cubanelle type peppers. I will seed my peppers in Feburary next year and hopefully have some better size platns to plant out. My pepper plants were pretty small, I hope they'll survive the next few weeks and do some good growing.

Tyff

[feldon30]

I'd be curious to know what number people consider "productive".

I know I've got a dozen Carmens at mature size (already picked 6) and another 6-7 at a smaller size. Golden Marconi is a yellow semi-elongated sweet pepper and it looks like I will get 28 on 1 plant.

[FlipTX]

I'd be curious to know what number people consider "productive".

I guess it's all relative for me. Since all my pepper growing attempts have resulted in resounding failure until this year, even if I only picked a couple of ripe peppers I'd probably think it was a productive outcome. I've picked two ripe Carmen peppers and have several more on the way. So to me, that's super productive.

I think I prefer growing sweet non-bells if only because they're so rarely offered in the produce aisle. Since my garden is so small, I try to maximize my space by growing things I can't easily find at the grocery.

[shelleybean]

I've given up bells for pimento and frying types. They do so much better for me. If I want a bell, I can always buy it at the store anyway. I'd rather grow things I can't find at the store or farmer's market.

[nctomatoman]

I was a bell pepper failure (relatively speaking) until I started growing them in 5 gallon pots in my baking, sunny driveway. I am getting amazing yields from the plants....but in general, for eating, I prefer the more elongated sweets such as Corno di Toro or Marconi. I also like Super Shepherd and Lipstick. I tried Tawny Port last year - was a pepper machine, but I found it thin walled and lacking a bit in flavor. My favorite bells are Orange Bell (just incredibly sweet, very thick walls, produces well), and Blue Jay/Islander (same pepper, two vendors) hybrid, which is incredibly beautiful. Another I am returning to this year is an expensive hybrid from Stokes called Chocolate Bell (larger, blockier, thicker walled than other chocolate bells I've tried). Of course, the most fun is saving seeds from the hybrids and seeing what happens in the F2 and beyond. I have 8 Islander F2 plants out there setting fruit.

[feldon30]

If the enlongated frying peppers like Corni di Toro (gotta give that a try), Marconi, Carmen, etc. taste the same as bells and are much more reliable and productive, I don't think I will go back to bells. But then again I have not tried bells in pots before.

The only thing I lose out on is being able to have stuffed peppers that sit politely on the plate with their flat bottoms. My dinner guests probably won't lament a Carmen that's laying on its side too much as long as it tastes good.

[JerryL]

I haven’t done much with peppers in general in past years. Planted a few here and there. Mostly in-between the garlic and cucumbers and green beans………

The only sweet pepper I’ve grown on a consistent basis in a hybrid called Fat & Sassy. It’s a good size bell that produces well and tastes great - IMHO.

This year I started a new plot dedicated to peppers. It is right off the concrete driveway. It gets full sun and my hope is it will get plenty of heat from the sun and driveway combination.

Other sweets in addition to F&S I’m trying this year are Jimmy Nardello, Golden Treasure Sweet, Sweet Cayenne, Georgescu Chocolate, Red Belgian, Solonovo Uvo (Elephant Ear), Feherozon, Franks, Banana Bill Hyb and Lipstick which I've grown before.

So give me a few months and I’ll be able to give a better opinion on bell vs. non-bell.

[montanamato]

Like Michele, I have gone to mainly pimento and Italian frying types...I have grown only OP peppers the past few years. My favorites are Yellow Miniature Bell, Tangerine Pimento, Red Marconi, Jimmy Nardello, Neopolitan, Feherozan, Georgescu Chocolate, Health, Lemme's, and
Frank's . I have quite a few new ones this year ,already budding/growing small peppers, that I am excited about. They are Doe Hill Golden Bell, Cappia, Friarello Barese, and Giant Szegedi.
For bell shapes I like Earlired and am trying Wisconsin Lakes and Chinese Giant for the first time this year.

Jeanne

[shelleybean]

Jeanne, I adore Doe Hill and have grown it several times, including this year. SESE calls it a bell but it's really like a little yellow cheese pimento with very thick walls and is very sweet when ripe gold. Until now, this has been my most reliable pepper but I have two Melrose plants that are fruiting like crazy and one has already given me a fully red pepper! I think I'll continue to grow both. Another one I like is the plain old Sweet Red Cherry. I like those in a jar of bread and butter pickles for sweetness and color.

[montanamato]

Michele ...Doe Hill actually set fruit before I planted it out in a container...It has several on now. I used to use Cherry peppers in B & B pickles too...I need to plant those again next year as B & B pickles are my children's favorite and I am hoping for a bumper crop of either cukes or zukes to can with.
I grew Melrose last year and only had a few late, late season fruit...My seedlings were puny and slow to do much...This year my Melrose are fruiting already and nice seedlings...Same seeds I used last year...I am looking forward to them...

Jeanne

[obispo45]

Thanks! Some of the varieties y'all have mentioned I've had a lot of good times with, namely Corni di Toro, Jimmy Nardello, Orange bell and others. More important though is the future "food for thought". Couple of the ones Craig mentioned, Doe Hill and undoubtedly others will receive further investigation. Arghhhh, forgot to mention the only non-bell OP'ed sweet one I have this year is Kurtovska Kapija. Not really sweet on second thought but makes a fairly sharp, brick red paprika. Turned out real well last season so gave er' another go.

Ya Feldon I know what you're saying. That darn "productive" word can be a tough and elusive definition. In all honesty I only feel comfortable using the "productive" label when mentioning maybe 2 or 3 tomato cultivars and an equal number of chiles. Just drawing on my own personal, albeit somewhat limited gardening experience. ONLY cultivar I would stake my unfounded reputation on is a Bolivian hot pepper Criolla Sella(a Capsicum baccatum). This will be my 4th year growing it(have 2, 3yr old plants too) and this beauty...maybe 30" tall by 36" wide monster frequently gives well in excess of 250 3" x .75" gorgeous, pendant fluroescent(sp) orange fruits per plant. Even my old man, God bless him, can't find anything to complain about when he sees these. If you noticed I convieniently neglected to apply my personal definition of productive to sweet pepps...LOL!! Attached pic is Criolla Sella. Seedling started 3/5/06 pic taken on 7/5/06.

Not trying to make a "sales pitch" and realized I've steared away from the initial bell vs non-bell discussion but if anyone wants to try this pepper PM me and I'll get some seeds out. Even if you're not a fan of the hot stuff its a fun one. Cheers!!

[nctomatoman]

now THESE are productive peppers! Last season's Tawny Port, Jimmy Nardello and Cubanelle, all in 5 gal pots

[Granny]

Planted 8 or 9 different kinds of peppers. Not a single bell in the bunch of them. I figure I can buy those at the store pretty easily in just about any color, so I'm growing stuff that I can't lay hands on for love nor money.

[feldon30]

Semi off-topic..

I wrapped a cookie sheet in tin foil, then sprayed it with vegetable oil and placed a Carmen pepper which was sliced into 3 "segments" on it. I broiled it at 350F until just starting to turn black, then flipped over the pieces and let it cook until just starting to soften.

DELICIOUS!!! I ate the pepper just like that! First time I've ever done that.

Craig, your Jimmy Nardello is even more loaded than mine! I just picked the first two, which I am going to save seed after I figure out what to do with them. My 4 Jimmy Nardello plants are 30-40 feet away from other peppers and I have not seen pollinating insects, so who knows. Unfortunately I think it's too hot in Houston to bag blossoms.